5 Numbers to Show the U.S. Still Beats China in Popularity

Pew has released a new survey of international opinion regarding the United States and China. It comes as no surprise that both countries have struggled at certain points in time with perception — human rights in China, the use of drones and other military policy in the U.S., Chinese business practices; both countries alike face skepticism over their respect of interests for each member in the global community. As problematic as these things have been, Pew found that the U.S. still has international swagger for the most part, sweeping China in nearly every category.

Here are five statistics that show the U.S. is still more popular globally than China:

1)U.S. Still No. 1 Economy, Barely

Polled responders across 20 countries said that they still viewed the U.S. as the world’s No. 1 economic power, despite a sharp decline in that perception from the last time Pew produced the poll, in 2008. When asked “Who is the World’s Leading Economic Power?” responders said that the U.S. was the winner by a margin of 41 percent to 34 percent for China. This is a pretty stiff decrease for the land of liberty since the last poll, when Pew found that 47 percent and 20 percent of people felt that way, respectively. From 2008 from 2013, China grew at a rapid pace and the United States floundered, possibly contributing to such a perspective. However, the U.S. recently convinced China to liberalize and reform its economy in a variety of ways, something that may impact future perceptions.